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14 December 2018 – 10 March 2019

Oskar Kokoschka (1886 – 1980) is regarded as one of the most important artists of the 20th century. His enduring legacy for artistic production from the post-war period to the present day is beyond dispute and yet enigmatic: on a continent riven by two world wars, in which realistic art had become discredited, here was someone unashamedly arguing for the recognition of figurative art. Throughout his life, he believed in the inclusive power of creative expression far removed from state propaganda, and this is reflected in all his oeuvre. In Kokoschka’s own words: ‘Official art is always kitsch, because it serves the anonymous customer, and thus the experience is eliminated.’ – ‘It may be that the contemporary flight from representation has less to do with the inability to design than a shrivelling of the capacity for experience.

Comprising some 200 exhibits, the show is designed as a retrospective and covers every stage of Kokoschka’s artistic career and the full range of his techniques, from oil painting, drawing and watercolour to printmaking.

The Kunsthaus Zürich played an important role in Kokoschka’s career Divided into thematic sections, it focuses on topics such as lunar from an early stage and he is correspondingly well represented in the collection, with more than ten oil paintings. The last Kokoschka retrospective in Switzerland was held at the Kunsthaus Zürich in 1986. It is high time, therefore, to reacquaint both a younger generation and some long-standing admirers with the spectacular originals of this expressionistic painter and his unique brushwork.